


To Pick A Cherry Tree Bare

by booping_the_snoot



Series: In Another Life [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: ;), Gen, Human Experimentation, Misgendering, Mistaken Identity, Nonbinary Character, Past Torture, Symbiotic Relationship, Trans Male Character, also implied - Freeform, by accident tho!, character injury, implied - Freeform, mm ill add more tags later, mm what else, past trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-11 00:42:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16465430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/booping_the_snoot/pseuds/booping_the_snoot
Summary: When he finally arrived at the outskirts of the city, Anthony didn't expect Amari's contact to be so short.





	To Pick A Cherry Tree Bare

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place around the same time as Come With Me If You Want To Live, a little bit after it though.

“So… Anthony.”

 

“Mm.”

 

“I’m going to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest. Don’t take this the wrong way. What in the name of  _ god _ spawned you?” 

 

“Ambition and spite, mostly.”

 

_ ‘Squeak squeak’ _

 

“Yeah, what they said.”

 

“You-” Kaimi blinks and shakes their head. “Wh-Anthony-I-okay. Yeah… yeah, okay, that's fair.”

 

Pāʻani silent snickers from their shoulders, something only Kaimi can hear, and they discreetly try to elbow xem. They miss, Anthony gives them a look, and  Pāʻani only snickers louder.

  
  


\----

  
  


Kaimi hadn’t known Anthony for very long. All they know is that he’s apparently hunting somebody down, and if someone doesn't help this kid out, he’s gonna get killed. Or mugged. Or both.

 

They don’t know why they’re referring to him as a kid- he’s older than them, by a year. Maybe it’s how scrawny he kid looks. He looks like a starved rat. Probably  _ is _ a starved rat, now that Kaimi thinks about it. They should probably get him some food. And water. Like, right now. How is this kid not dead? He’s coated in dirt, grime, and what looks like blood. What happened to him?

 

But. But he keeps calling them Peter.  _ They have no clue who Peter is. _ Is Peter someone he came here to meet? Do they look like him? They’re so confused. At least  Pāʻani finds it amusing. Xe finds many, many annoying things amusing, however. Especially when it annoys Kaimi. Xyr kind of an asshole.

 

No matter. Kaimi is rolling with it. They don’t know why, but they are. At first, they tried to tell the kid that  _ no, my name isn’t Peter, _ while he had a knife to their neck, but the kid wasn’t having any of it. So, they guess their name is Peter, now. How is this their life? How does this happen? 

 

And why does he have a robotic rodent on his shoulder?

  
  


\----

  
  


This ‘Peter’ person isn’t really what Anthony was expecting. He fidgets a lot, and every time he does Anthony almost shanks him. He waves around his ears as if there's a fly no one else can see, and at times stares off at nothing. He’s weird.

 

_ But weird is okay, you said it yourself all those years ago, _ a soft voice reminds him. That voice has been there for a while now, ever since the quiet of the desert started to get to him. As usual, he ignores it.

 

Other than that, he looks rather plain. Coily dark red hair pulled back up into a bun, dark skin and a sea of freckles. Some marks on his face, too. One on his chin, below his left eye, and across his right eye down to his cheekbone. Most likely burns of some kind. Anthony also noticed some peeking out from under the collar of Peters pink (Pink? Grey? Anthony can’t tell, the colors look too soft, if that makes sense.) sweater. The marks looked like whatever caused them had been painful and explains why one eye is lighter than the other, the right one being a muted gold, and the other being a bright honey. His glasses are like thin wires probably bent with a pair of needle nose pliers and appear misshapen, rattly put together, but Anthony doesn’t judge. All in all, he’s actually quite nice looking.

 

But that’s not why he’s here.

 

Ms. Amari had mentioned Peter as one of her contacts in the lesser parts of the city. The greater slums, so to speak. He got her many of the expensive looking parts that would linger around her workshop. She mentioned how he has a tendency to pull one's leg a bit, but he didn’t expect him to resist  _ this _ much.

 

Whatever. Just another thing to overcome. Peter was his only way to find this Cherry Balewa person. These ‘greater slums’ - as Anthony has taken to calling them - were too big to search by himself and having someone who could guide or give him directions straight to the hidden workshop would save him an incredible amount of time.

 

“So, Peter,” he says, idly swinging his butterfly knife around. Nervous tick, you can’t blame him. “Where can I find Cherry Balewa?”

  
  


\---

  
  


Kaimi’s first thought is,  _ ‘Who the fuck is Cherry Balewa?’ _

 

Their second thought is,  _ ‘Holy shit that knife looks really sharp. That knife was at my neck. That knife looks really, really sharp.’ _

 

They should probably answer. They should probably try to repeat the fact that they  _ have no fucking clue who Peter is. _ Kaimi feels like if they don’t answer, they’re probably gonna get stabbed. If it comes to it, Pāʻani could probably protect them from anything sharp this kid has, but that won’t do any good if they’ve already been stabbed. Pāʻani is fast, but xe isn’t  _ that _ fast.

 

They decide to roll with it.  _ Don’t show any weakness. _ Wait.  _ Don’t show any more weakness than you’ve already shown. _ “I shouldn’t tell you where. Who knows what could be listening- the walls have ears. C-Come, I’ll show you the way.”  _ God fucking damn it, they stuttered. _

 

_ “And backed yourself into a metaphorical corner,” _ Pāʻani says to them.

 

_ ‘You’re really not helping,’ _ Kaimi thinks back in retaliation.

 

Kaimi turns away from Anthony and resists the urge to put a hand on chest and wheeze. Pāʻani is still snickering, the traitor, but at least that means xe doesn’t think any harm will come to Kaimi. They’ll just have to trust xem. Even if xe has given them problems in the past, Kaimi knows that this is a symbiotic relationship, no matter what Pāʻani tells them through xyr static. If Kaimi dies, Pāʻani dies. Kaimi isn’t sure what would happen if Pāʻani were to get hurt, but they  _ really _ don’t wanna test that. They’ve gone through enough tests, thank you very much.

 

Kaimi leads him down tight alleyways and busy streets. Calling it a street would be a bit of an exaggeration, but it is what it is. Maybe they can lose the kid in the crowd. They shouldn’t even  _ be _ in the crowd, an enforcer could see them and recognize them and they’ll be taken back. Pāʻani could lift them up onto a roof when the boy turns away. But no no no, that would only drag unwanted attention back onto themself and if that happens, all of the enforcers in the area would swarm them. Just thinking about it, they might have a panic attack. Pāʻani rests a three-pronged hand on their shoulder, probably an attempt to ground them. It helps a little bit, and Kaimi sends xem a small smile. They need to focus.  _ Fo-cus. _ There are very few solid facts right now.

 

Their name is Kaimi Faamoana, they refuse to let themself be caught again, they are  _ not _ this Peter person, Pāʻani is a dick, and they are  _ so fucking anxious right now, holy shit. _

  
  


\----

  
  


He’s gonna bolt. He’s totally gonna bolt. Anthony can see it in the way his hands fidget, in the way he keeps casting glances over his shoulder, sharp miscolored eyes taking in the detail of everything around them. Probably mapping an escape route, right now.

 

Anthony would like to avoid stabbing him if he could. They’ve talked very little, but from what Anthony has seen, Peter is a very mild person. Someone he could joke with, or make small talk with and that  _ doesn’t _ wanna make him throw himself into a gorge.

 

He doesn’t like it here. He has to keep Whiskey in their pouch, as to avoid having his little friend stolen from him. He’s already had to glare away multiple attempt pickpockets and shuffles closely behind Peter when the redhead whirls around. Anthony barely manages to not go straight for one of his kunai.

 

“Are you hungry? You look h-hungry. And thirsty. Let me get you some food, some water. Does your… little buddy need food? I know a good place nearby. W-Well, good being a relative term, con-considering where we are, but it has food and drink and I think you’re underage but the barista won’t care, I-”

 

Anthony interrupts his rant. “Stop.”

 

The kid stops. He looks two seconds away from passing out, and Anthony only feels a  _ little bit _ bad. He sighs.

 

Mmmmm. Peter is looking up at him (Up, Anthony idly rejoices. Finally, someone shorter than him-) with those big mismatched honey eyes and Anthony feels a bit worse now. How old is Peter, anyway? Ms. Amari never said her contact was so young, or at the very least, young looking.

 

But his first priority is finding Cherry. He needs to find her. He should have found her like, yesterday. There’s no time to spare, every moment he spends idling, he could be weakening the Dictators hold.

 

_ But. _ But the look Peter is giving him is so anxious and it makes him feel  _ even worse. _ His resolve flakes away and he sighs. “Sure. I mean, yes, I am hungry… I suppose having some bread… wouldn't hurt.”

 

Peter looks surprised before he smiles lightly and spins around, throwing a soft  _ ‘come on!’ _ over his shoulder. He swats at another invisible ‘fly’ near his ear, but Anthony pays it no mind. Anthony sighs- he’s been doing that a lot, recently- and follows the tiny redhead to wherever this ‘restaurant’ is.

 

He needs some coffee. Has he ever mentioned how much he relies on coffee? Ms. Amari had always claimed that she would one day marry coffee, but she would always put cream in it. ‘Only weak people use cream,’ he would always joke with her as he drank his coffee straight from the pot. He always-

 

Wait. 

 

_ Is that an enforcer? _

 

Anthony puts a hand on Peters shoulder, not looking away from the approaching enforcer. He doesn’t know if the man is going for them, but his experiences in the slums have taught him to always hide when you see an enforcer. Only attack if you truly need to, because attacking an enforcer will more than likely cause more to swarm at your location. 

 

The enforcer is running through the crowd, and the crowd parts like the red sea. He’s chasing someone. He’s chasing someone, so there are probably more in the area already. Enforcers are like locusts and cockroaches. They swarm and show no mercy and, when alone, can be easily dealt with. But a group of them? Good job taking one out, let alone surviving.

 

He can feel Peter tense under his touch, and when he turns to him, his eyes are zeroed in on the incoming enforcer. He’s almost as still as a statue under Anthony’s hand. The expression on his face is one of pure, unadulterated panic and fear.

 

And then, static.

**Author's Note:**

> Pāʻani is a spook boi


End file.
